Handling of liquids in various disciplines such as chemical or petroleum processing involves storage, shipment and transfer of material highly corrosive, or otherwise deleterious, to containment equipment made of metal. Accordingly, it is necessary to isolate the contact surfaces of the equipment from the liquid.
In the past, containment vessels, as well as flow components such as metal tubes, elbows, tees, or the like, have been lined with rubber to isolate the contact surfaces from the corrosive liquid. More recently, plastic lines or plastic components have been employed to reduce the cost. Tubes, elbows, tees, and the like, have been made of PVC or other plastics. These components are relatively effective, but lack durability under the arduous conditions experienced, for example, in transporting the corrosive liquid by rail, or tractor trailer truck.
Most recently, piping components have been successfully made from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWP). These components possess the requisite resistance to the liquids being handled and the necessary durability to make their use cost effective. Because piping system components and tubes are commonly joined together at flanged joints, bolted connections are the norm. Such joints must withstand the loads imparted by external forces during loading, transport and unloading of the liquid. Accordingly, it has been found necessary to utilize segmented washers made of metal to withstand, and distribute the forces associated with joinder of the flanged components using bolted connections. It is also often necessary to join flanged components of different sizes and bolt patterns and accomplish such connections within restricted spacing.
The present disclosure illustrates a particular piping component and its application in a railroad car containment vessel for transport of corrosive, or otherwise deleterious liquid. This component, an eduction tube assembly, incorporates the advantages of a flow passage impervious to the deleterious effects of the liquid being handled. It also comprises a component connected between different size flanges with different bolt patterns with reduced overall spacing between the connected components. Specifically the assembly incorporates a single segmented securement washer with multidirectional connectability. In this configuration, the assembly minimizes the separate component parts required as well as the overall length of the assembly in the direction of flow.